a lifestlye blog by Madelaine

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A Christmas Refresh

When you live in a small space for several years, you really start to see how many things you own…as it slowly starts to suffocate you. Over the years, items just collect; your collection grows yet your space to store them stays the same. I’m not oblivious to the fact that I am a borderline [arguable] hoarder. Specifically, I classify myself as a functioning ‘organized hoarder’.

Since, Mike and I are staying put for the next couple years, we decided to buy new furniture and to freshen up our condo decor. The only way to successfully do this was to purge and to sell our old pieces. With our new furniture configurations, we were running low on floor space and in order to make room for my Christmas tree I had to place my pistachio chaise [above] in the sell pile. I was sad to see it go but it was necessary as I refused to go a holiday season tree-less.

For many, they have a proud tradition of bringing home a live spruce, but for me, I have a tradition of bringing out [from storage] my faux tree. I was never raised with a real tree at Christmas so in my adult life, I continue to find comfort in un-boxing, fluffing and decorating my fake one. Over the years, 1 or 2 new ornaments would grace the tree and that was the extent of the decoration excitement. However, this year, I decided to really shake things up and do a refresh.

If your tree is not yet up, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? I was delayed a week or 2 on mine, but that was for Kijiji selling reasons. So, if are staving off the holiday bug I’m hitting you with some of my tree refreshes to nudge you toward surrendering to the jingling bells.

My 1st refresh was my tree topper. I found a gold + 3D + geometric star to replace my blue star. Extra bling during the holidays is never out of place.

My 2nd refresh was my garland. Traditionally, after hanging my ornaments I wrap my tree with ribbon. This year, I found a matte white garland made from a string of wooden balls. I think the new topper and garland add whimsy and modern touches to the tree.

Topper + garland from CB2

My 3rd refresh, in addition to hanging a couple new ball ornaments , were my DIY’d super-easy-to-make ribbon ornaments. With striped gross grain ribbon, a pair of sharp scissors, and twist ties, I made these sweet little bows to adorn the tree branches.

My 4th, and most painstaking refresh, was my tree skirt. The skirt above, was one I sewed over 7 years ago. I still love it but it was a little small and was not quite a circle.

This year, with a store-bought gold trimmed tree skirt and a needle + yarn, I tried my hand at some embroidery. Originally, I planned to do an allover pattern however, as the skirt was 2 layers [the fleece top + the facing behind] and the needle was larger than normal [to fit the yarn], poking through it was not an easy feat. As a result, and armed with rubber thimbles, I only managed to cover about a quarter of the skirt; it was all my fingers could handle.

I’d like to say that I employed proper embroidery stitches in my technique but, I kinda made it up as I went along. I dare not show you the back of this garment; a hot mess that no one shall ever see! Perhaps, my next holiday tradition will be embroidering a new section onto the skirt each year. At this rate, I anticipate I’ll be at that allover pattern goal in at least 4 years [ha].